KEPCO’s Bylong Valley coal project will have significant impacts on productive land and local water supplies, according to the NSW government’s Mining and Petroleum Gateway Panel.
Despite the adverse findings, the panel issued a conditional certificate which will be considered as part of the approval process by the Planning and Assessment Commission.
The panel is tasked with assessing the impact of mining and gas projects on land identified as prime cropping and grazing country, otherwise known as Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL).
It said the project proposal failed to meet 12 out of the 13 criteria, established under the State Environment Planning Policy, related to the proposition that “the development will not significantly reduce agricultural productivity”.
The criteria includes impacts on soil, fragmentation of land uses, groundwater and subsidence.
NSW Office of Water (NOW) contributed advice to the panel.
“While the proponent has acquired a large number of shares for the take of groundwater from the alluvial aquifer, there may be real constraints on the availability of water.
“As demand within the licence's entitlement available in the water source increases, or under dry conditions, access to the full entitlement each year may not be possible.”
NOW said the project will rely heavily on groundwater, creating a “substantial economic risk” for the mine and there may not be enough supply to meet requirements which may include coal processing and dust suppression.
“The proponent should identify contingency options for this instance,” NOW said.
NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson commented on radio that the conditional certificate issued by the panel raised concerns over its effectiveness.
She said the panel stated up front the project failed to satisfy the criteria, but still awarded a gateway certificate.
"And this project, to all intents and purposes, seems to have passed through the gateway process and on to the next stage of development."
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said “It’s ludicrous that the Bylong mine failed 12 out of 13 criteria, and the Spur Hill mine that failed nine out of 11 criteria, are still granted a certificate and progress to the next stage of planning assessment.
"The government has set up a gateway process, but there is no gate in the gateway."
